Red Cloak
by Wacky Walnut
Summary: My take on how Cloud got Vincent's Cloak in KHI


Red Cloak

**Red Cloak**

Disclaimer: Don't own Kingdom Hearts, it belongs to Disney and Square Enix

Authors note: My take on how Cloud possibly got Vincent's cloak, in the first game.

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Red Cloak

It had been a normal day in Edge; people went about their daily business as if there was nothing particular to do in the world. There were no looming threats for once; no chance of anyone causing any problems and a gentle calmness had taken over everything. Cloud had finished the deliveries early and had taken the chance to go to Aerith's church and stare at the shimmering water. He lost track of how long he was there, simply allowing his head to clear and be at peace with himself. He could almost hear the gentle whispering of her voice and the laughter of his best friend but it was mere figments of imagination. He sighed and looked up at the holes in the roof, wondering why such a place had ended up in this sort of situation. True he knew exactly why and how but it was strange that no one was going to rebuild it.

'But then it wouldn't be yours, would it Aerith?' he mentally told himself before coming aware of a second presence in the room that most certainly wasn't a figment of his imagination. He blinked in slight surprise, "Vincent?"

"Barrett was wondering where you had gotten to" Vincent stated, walking through the church with care but only those who knew the dark man well would have noticed.

"Barrett?" that sounded a little odd, even to Cloud, "Why would he want to know something like that?"

Vincent shook his head, "I don't know. He just called up out of the blue and asked if you were with me since you don't answer your phone these days"

Cloud frowned and pulled out the phone, flipping it open. Normally if he didn't answer a call it was because he was off on a delivery but he would always pick up later. He had been known to do this days later, especially with a little annoying Ninja, but Barrett generally didn't call when he was staying in Edge so that was something odd. The screen display was the same as ever, a slight dull blue due to wear and tear and the basic settings and functions. But there were no missed call alerts, answer phone message symbols or even a text he had forgotten about.

He shrugged and stood up, "Well I don't know who he's been calling but it's not been me"

Vincent watched as Cloud walked past him, his eyes searching intently which slightly worried the swordsman. When Vincent got that look, it could only mean one thing. Trouble. He was going to ask the gunslinger what the problem was when something vibrated around his body, making him jolt forward suddenly.

The look of slight panic that filtered into the others features was enough for Cloud to draw out the ultima weapon but he was a fraction of a second to slow to react. Something slammed into his back, not with that much force but it caught him off guard and sent him to the ground. A single blast from Cerberus had the creature spinning away from him but it immediately righted itself and skimmed back towards him. Its yellow eyes looking intently hungry despite the lack of a pupil.

Taking a slash at it, the creature disappeared in a puff of black smoke and a heart glistened in the sunlight before fading away. "What was that?" asked Cloud, instincts flaring to tell him this battle wasn't over yet.

Vincent shook his head, "Not even here is safe. Those things have been popping up…" he paused as every other shadow seemed to suddenly sprout the strange black things with a hissing sound, "And it seems that they have brought the reinforcements with them this time"

Glancing around, Cloud was slightly disturbed to see that they were not actually moving towards them. The creatures were just standing there, glaring and seeming to be waiting for something, "Tell me, do they normally do this?"

"No" answered Vincent truthfully before turning to his blond haired companion and noticing that something was wrong. "Cloud!" he shouted and shoved him forward as a large black circle enveloped them. The creatures moved at this point, streaming towards the gunslinger with snarls but Cerberus dealt with them easily enough and soon more hearts were fading from view. Instinct told Vincent to duck a swipe from the ultima but when it landed on the opposite side of his body, he knew that something was most definitely wrong.

"You okay?" came Cloud's voice and Vincent nodded before rising slowly as he watched the horde of creatures back up and seem to regroup.

"Yes…but what about you?" he asked carefully, noticing that the black circle was back under his feet again which meant that what Barrett had said was true.

There was no reply from the swordsman, just that confused filled air that he gave off when the situation didn't make sense. He had probably noticed the fact that the ultima weapon had changed to his old Buster Sword. Before he could say anything more there was a deep rumbling sound from somewhere nearby and the horde faded or merged, he couldn't be sure, into a large black monster the likes of which he had never seen before.

Cloud stared at it, his body tense and ready for the inevitable fight ahead and Vincent copied the motion, though all he had to do was raise his gun in a threatening manor. Still a small amount of humour escaped his stance, "A friend of yours Cloud?"

"Humour does not suit you Vincent" commented Cloud but a wiry grin was most certainly on his face now.

Vincent nodded and let off a blistering first round that was filled with a blast of fire materia. Cloud took no second bidding and rushed at the creature, sword high above his head. The creature seemed to regard the pair for a second, before swiping at Vincent enough so that the man was forced backwards towards the glistening pond. Cloud suddenly found himself trapped underneath one of the creature's hands and staring at its face with a look as close to horror as Cloud ever got.

The thing twisted its head, ignoring the gun shots that were bouncing off it and then seemed to make up its mind. Cloud suddenly found himself able to stand and with a quick swipe of the buster sword he slammed into the hand that had held him down before backing off to try and establish just what the creature would throw at him next.

It came as somewhat of a surprise when it simply fell forwards and appeared to disappear into the floor. However before he could react, black tendrils had shot up all around him and with a sharp tug they pulled him downwards as well. Letting out a surprised yelp as he tumbled downwards, he was glad to feel strong arms grab his body and begin to pull. Vincent knew that it was probably pointless to do such a thing but he was willing to try. The two struggled for what felt like hours when it was just a couple of minuets when Vincent suddenly lost his footing.

There was no reason as to why the floorboard cracked underneath him but Vincent suddenly found himself on the floor with his upper torso going through it. He got one look at Cloud's eyes before he was pulled roughly back up and the darkness disappeared in a blinding snap.

Barrett stared at the gunslinger in shock, not knowing what to do especially when he collapsed into his arms colder than he had ever felt in his entire life. Vincent spent the next few days recovering in Seventh Heaven, waking to discover that whilst he was perfectly something was missing that wasn't just Cloud.

The sheering sunlight had finally woken Cloud up, in the middle of some desert which he had never been to before. Breathing heavily, he stared around and spotted a distant building structure. As he rose he noticed the red cloak on the ground and absently put it on. He didn't remember taking it off and did not recall the person they had originally belonged to. All Cloud knew was that he was searching for someone, for his light and the Coliseum was the best place to start looking.

If Hades didn't get to him first of course.


End file.
